Clarissa (Clara) Harlowe Barton
Personal Information
Born: 1821
Died: 1912
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
home school, self-taught nursing skills; attended Clinton Liberal Institute 1850-51; earned her 1st teaching certificate 1837
"“I shall remain here while anyone remains, and do whatever comes to my hand. I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them.”"
— Clarissa (Clara) Harlowe Barton
Professional Life
Field of Study: Nursing
Institution/Corporation: Red Cross
Degrees & Memberships: None found
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1973 National women's Hall of Fame; Golden Cross of Baden; Prussian Iron Cross; 2019 Government Hall of Fame; 2008 New Jersey Hall of Fame
Achievements: founded American Red Cross 1881; nurse during Civil War; assisted in marking the graves of 13,000 Union soldiers at the Confederate prison in Anderson, GA 1865; was president of the American red Cross 23 years, retiring 1904; learned how to administer medication & perform leeching (blood letting) while nursing her brother back to health; taught for 11 years at schools in Canada & West Georgia; supported the suffrage movement & civil rights; 1884 helped during the floods on the Ohio river, provided Texas with food & supplies during the famine of 1887 & led a team of 50 doctors & nurses to help victims of the Johnstown Flood of 1889, founding what eventually became Conemaugh Health system; 1896 provided humanitarian aid to victims of Hamidian massacres in turkey; age 77 worked in Cuban hospitals after the explosion on the USS Maine; her last field operation as President of the Red Cross was helping victims of the Galveston Hurricane in 1900, the operation established an orphanage for child victims
1852 opened 1 of the 1st free public schools in New Jersey, enrollment went from 5 to 600 & the townspeople hired a male to run the school because they felt it was improper for a female to run it
was nicknamed "The Angel of the Battlefield"81854 began working at the US Patent Office in DC & earning the same as her male counterparts, was demoted after 3 years & quit because she wouldn't work for less than her male colleagues were making, returned in 1860 but left again to care for the wounded during the Civil War
was the youngest of 5 children
some sources note she was home schooled while others indicate she was sent to school with her brother when she was 3
when she was 15 she established a school for the children of the workers at her father's saw mill & taught there
was 1 of the 1st women to be employed as a clerk by the Federal Government
was very shy & often teased as a child because of her lisp
took inspiration from Florence Nightingale
1883-84 was superintendent of Women's Reformatory Prison in Sherborn, MA
would write down the words of dying soldiers to pass on to their families
1869 while on a trip to Switzerland learned about the Red Cross movement, volunteered with the International Committee of the Red Cross providing civilian relief during the Franco-Prussian War
the silk brocade dress she wore throughout the 1860s for special occasions & speaking engagements was donated to the Red Cross by her great, great, great niece BarbaraBovender
1832 at age 10 was nurse to her brother David for 2 years after he fell from the rafters of a barn he was helping build & suffered a brain injury, she administered his medications learning about them & learning how to perform leeching
a statue of her was erected in Santiago, chile to commemorateher aid to refugees & prisoners of the Spanish-american War
was forced to resign as President of the Red Cross in 1904 after a controversy about her handling of agency funds, sometimes mixing them with her personal finances & it was felt her egotistical leadership style did not fit well with a charitable agency
1975 her home in Glen Echo, MD was established as a Heritage Site, the 1st such site dedicated to the accomplishments of a woman
there are over 25 shools, numerous streets, libraries, homeless shelters, hospitals & clinics, buildings, a giant sequoia tree, & a crater on Venus named after her
her image has appeared on US postage stamps
June 1864 she was formally appointed superintendent of nurses for the Army of the James
it was her idea to incorporate disaster relief into the core mission statement of the American Red Cross & the idea was later adopted by the International red Cross